I just have a feeling that Margus Hunt will be the pick for New England at 29. I feel like his rawness will be enough for him to slide to that point but his unique physical attributes and upside will be too much for Belichick to pass up.

His length, rawness and upside also screams NYG type pick... though I'm not sure he's worthy of a Top 20 pick. Personally I don't like him in Rd 1, but the upside is undeniable.

I'd be more comfortable taking him in the early 2nd but I see a ton of potential and his performance has been on a steady rise in college suggesting to me he takes to coaching very well. When you combo the ability to take in coaching along with the upside I wouldn't complain at all taking him at #29. That's one advantage I'd say Hunt has over other high potential players is his track record to taking to coaching. I'll try to find the article but I remember reading during Senior Bowl practices how much he improved over a short period of time under NFL coaching, which to me is a great sign

NFL Network did a piece on Hunt under their segment, "Margus Hunt's First Draft." He was very impressive in that interview. He was very articulate, intellegent, determined to be successful. To do 38 reps at 225 shows he is a hard worker who spends a ton of time in the weight room. He says he loves watching film, getting to work early etc. I think he could be our choice.

I agree. He seems like a BB type of guy not to mention he's a ST ace in college with a ton of blocked kicks (17 in his college career). You put him across from Jones and that could be a deadly combo of DEs. Some think he might be had in the back of the 2nd, I don't think he falls that far but I wouldn't mind moving our second up to get him and take a WR or CB with our first. I'm getting excited now and am kind of hoping he might be the guy

I know that a lot of people think that Hunt will last till late in the second round, but truthfully I'll be suprised if he is still on the board by the start of the second. His rare physical attributes will entice someone (possibly NE) to take him arlier than a lot of people think. IF BB really wants him, he better grab him at 29. Best case scenario would be to trade back to around pick 40 and get him there, but I think you would really risk losing him if you try to do that. If we do in fact take Hunt at 29, it is pretty exciting because you know that BB and Co. REALLY like him if they do that...

Bred- I see what you are saying with a lot of the mocks showing Werner being available in the late first. I too would be thrilled to land him there, but don't get you hopes up. When push comes to shove on draft day, I bet he gets taken well before our pick.

hey wazu,

he was a pipe dream as the first player on my wish list at the start. mocked top 5. ye si woould be surprised with him there as i am with the mocks. id love to land himor carradine.

I just have a feeling that Margus Hunt will be the pick for New England at 29. I feel like his rawness will be enough for him to slide to that point but his unique physical attributes and upside will be too much for Belichick to pass up.

Yeah, I've been saying this for awhile. If Hunt is there at 29, I think the Pats may take him because I doubt he gets past SF. (This assumes of course that NYG don't take him as Mb fears). I think he makes a huge impact on special teams year 1 as he learns and improves and replaces Ninko in 2014 but in the meantime he comes in situationally as a pass rusher. Of all the choices being bantered about, I think Hunt is the most likely choice if the Pats stay at 29.

hes 5th de on my list of posible pats. with his special teams he had me thinking bb dreaming ahout this guy early on. said so here.

Hey Ricky, how ya been? In reality, none of these QBs are first round talent. I would wait till Rd 2 or go back and trade with NE at 29 if desperate to get "your guy". A top 10 pick for a QB is very risky this year. NFL network reported that there may be a lot of trade movement this year. KC wants out of the 1st pick and move down. There are other teams with high picks. Others that may move up to get one of three highly rated OTs. It was reported Phily was checking out Tavon Austin and they may want to fall back to grab him. This draft is crazy, nothing set in stone all in jello.

NFL Network's Mike Mayock stated on Path to the Draft that he only anticipates one quarterback being drafted in the first round.

It'll likely be Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, who is crystallizing as the draft's top QB. "I don’t think there’s going to be more than one quarterback taken in the first round, which is not what I thought three months ago," Mayock said. "I think there’s still going to be some activity at the back end of that first round, but most of the activity for quarterbacks this year? I think second and third rounds." It's not out of the question that West Virginia's Geno Smith could be available for the Jaguars at No. 33 overall.-Roto

if jacks take geno there could be 4 that get picked up until jets pick.

I am throwing out there my latest mock draft, accounting for recent news

1) QB movement

2) Star being cleared to play

3) Revis to TBB

Here goes

1st Round

1 KCC - L Joeckle, OT

2 JAX - Z Ansah, DE

3. OAK - S Lotulelei, DT

4. PHI - G Smith, QB

5. DET - D Jordan, DE/OLB

6. CLE - D Milliner, CB

7. ARI - E Smith, OT

8. BUF - C Warmack, OG

9. NYJ - S FLoyd, DT (34DE)

10. TEN - T Austin, WR

11. SDC - L Johnson, OT

12. MIA - X Rhodes, CB

13. NYJ - B Mingo, OLB

14. CAR - S Richardson, DT (Could go Patterson)

15. NOS - J Hankins, DT

16. STL - C Patterson, WR

17. PIT - S Williams, DT

18. DAL - J Cooper, OG

19. NYG - B Werner, DE

20. CHI - DJ Fluker, OT: (Could go Ogletree)

21. CIN - A Ogletree, LB

22. STL - T Eifert, TE

23. MIN - R Woods, WR

24. IND - J Williams, DT

25. MIN - D Trufant, CB

26. GBP - K Short, DT

27. HOU - J Jones, DE/OLB

28. DEN - D Jones, DE

29. NEP - J Jenkins, DT

30. ATL - C Carradine, DE

31. SFF - Allen, WR

32. BAL - K Minter, LB

2ND ROUND: I anticipate that teams start picking up their QBs

33. JAX - M Barkley, QB

34. SFF - K Vacarro, FS

35. PHI - M Hunt, DE

36. DET - Z Ertz, TE

37. CIN - L Warford, OG

38. ARI - EJ Manuel

XX. CLE - No Pick

39. NYJ - J Taylor, CB

40. TEN - A Okafor, DE

41. BUF - R Nassib, QB

42. MIA - D Moore, DE

43. TBB - S Montgomery, DE

44. CAR - D Hopkins, WR

XX. NOS - No Pick

45. SDC - B Schwenke, C

46. STL - M Elam, SS

47. DAL - T Armstead, OT

48. PIT - J Collins, OLB

49. NYG - M Teo, LB

50. CHI - J Hunter, WR

51. WAS - K Long, OG

52. MIN - S Montgomery, DE

53. CIN - E Reid, S

54. MIA - J Cyprien, S

55. GBP - T Williams, WR

56. SEA - DJ Hayden, CB

57. HOU - M Wheaton: WR

58. DEN - P Thomas, FS

59. NEP - K Alonso, LB (CB Dwayne Gratz could also be picked here)

60. ATL - E Lacy, RB

61. SFF - D Slay, CB

62. BAL - J Banks, CB

I also think NEP gets Swope in with their third round pick.

while jenkins was one of my guys early on, id for sure take carradine there.

option move back and taek okafor and add a pick.

Hard for me to see BB taking in the first someone off an ACL tear. Even if he shows he can run, there are too many questions about how effective he will be on the field. With Jenkins you know what you are and are not getting.

I agree that the patriots probably will not drafted Taylor. You're absolutely right. usually when there is this much speculation about New England loving a prospect it doesn't work out. On the other hand, I disagree that we will trade back out of the first round. I think BB would love to, but I don't think we're going to have a trading partner there.

RE: Jamar Taylor... for what it's worth, there was a ton of smoke around Chandler to NE leading up to last year's draft, so the smoke around Jamar can't be totally dismissed.

I'd be happy with him or Hayden if they go CB in Rd 1.

You're right. A lot of people started linking Chandler to NE a week or 2 before the draft last year. That was why I was so suprised when BB actually took him. I'm with you. I would take either Taylor or Hayden in a heart-beat and be very happy about it.

I was thinking about it and now I'm starting to doubt they'd trade out of the 1st for anything less then a 2nd and early 3rd or a 2nd next year. The value of the optional 5th year for 1st round picks might be to much to turn up for simply a 2nd and 4th pick. They might not value moving back a dozen spots just for a 4th if it costs them an additional year at a reasonable rate for a top end player

3) A high future pick to be acquired ( Last year - I missed not having an obscure team to root against )

4) Mallete Trade ( maybe for that future high pick ?)

He's unlikely to still be here when Brady's contract expires and I just don't believe he'd be able to pick up the slack if the unthinkable was to happen again

5) Acquire Lawrence Okeye .

I get the feeling that a couple years from now people will be saying " I can't believe this guy could have been had for a late round pick ". Either that or people say " Who's was that ?" It's more likely the latter ( considering the guy's never even put on a helmet , but that's true of everybody who's ever played ...gotta start somewhere ) It just seems like he's got all the intangibles to get it done . Plus - of all the positions in the game ( that don't include kicking a ball ) D-Line seems to be the one that you can plug a newbie into the easiest .

My guess is a team like the 49ers will take a flyer ( late 6th ? ) while BB will most likely hope he slips thru the cracks and accepts our UFA invite ( obviously gonna be a ton of themFoxboro-bound this year ) .

In conclusion ( crowd cheers ) ...

I predict BB trades back and out of 1st ( Bills move up for Nassib ? )

Trades up in 2nd ( short hop to leapfrog Broncs for falling DE ? )

Trades sideways in 3rd ( ??? )

Trades a vet for a draft pick

(Maybe Ballard back to NYG 's for a 4th ? How about Mallete to the Jets for their future 2 ? ...only half-kidding )

Disclosure : This will be my first thread offering since the mighty 2013 Draft Thread V2's initial posting.

I don't follow the College game ...at all - so I never really have a clue until all the hype starts in earnest (for me it's typically a couple months b4 the draft )

I do however check in here to get eductated on the Pats angle on the prospects and as always you guys are pretty 'frickin' amazing with your analysis .

So once again ...

A big thank you goes out to MB and the rest of you draftniks .

That said ...

IMO -

Unlike past years when it was pretty clear BB was going to :

A) Trade back to later rounds

B) Trade back for future picks

C) Get ahead of an impending need ( i.e Solder to eventually replace Light )

D) Draft at least one TE

E ) Hook up a trade with Andy / Ozzie / Al

I'm now resigned to admitting that BB is the NFL Drafts ultimate enigma and simply cannot be pegged .

21011 & 2012's draft proved it .

( Taking back-to-back rbs and then Mallete ...again NOT parlaying first pick of 2nd round... Trading up in the 1st round ...TWICE ! )

Nobody knows what he's going to do .

It wouldn't shock me to see BB commit the NFL drafts biggest sin :

Moving up by trading away a future pick and mortgaging the future

( actually ..that one would shock me )

Given the new CBA and Brady's window, combined with last years moves and the core of the team essentially locked up for years this move wouldn't surprise me actually. The more I think about it the more I convince myself he'll move back into the 3rd-6th range using next years picks

I'm more of a DT type of person but I wouldn't complain agaist a DE either. The only thing I question is that Nink fits the mold so perfectly for the type of player BB likes (3 down, fundamentally sound, locks down in bigger situations, high motor, smart) that I wonder if he'd go for a 2 down player over Nink. If they go DE they will have to be a Nink upgrade which includes run stopping unless it's a mid round player as a specific pass rusher

2 ) Playmaker at wr ( could care less about size / speed )

3) A high future pick to be acquired ( Last year - I missed not having an obscure team to root against )

Isn't that fun but this year I agree with you that BB might burn a future pick to move back into round 2 or 3 given available talent this year. Imo that would be a better use of picks then trading them for disgruntled vets who last a season or less anyways

4) Mallete Trade ( maybe for that future high pick ?)

He's unlikely to still be here when Brady's contract expires and I just don't believe he'd be able to pick up the slack if the unthinkable was to happen again

Agree, this is the year to trade Mallett as his value won't be any high. I also agree after 14' Mallett is gone in FA because Brady will still be around

5) Acquire Lawrence Okeye .

I get the feeling that a couple years from now people will be saying " I can't believe this guy could have been had for a late round pick ". Either that or people say " Who's was that ?" It's more likely the latter ( considering the guy's never even put on a helmet , but that's true of everybody who's ever played ...gotta start somewhere ) It just seems like he's got all the intangibles to get it done . Plus - of all the positions in the game ( that don't include kicking a ball ) D-Line seems to be the one that you can plug a newbie into the easiest .

My guess is a team like the 49ers will take a flyer ( late 6th ? ) while BB will most likely hope he slips thru the cracks and accepts our UFA invite ( obviously gonna be a ton of themFoxboro-bound this year ) .

I really like Okeye too and if available in the 7th I wouldn't complain in the leasat if they used it on him, instead of getting into a bidding war with another team

In conclusion ( crowd cheers ) ...

I predict BB trades back and out of 1st ( Bills move up for Nassib ? )

From latest reports Bills are going to take Nassib at #8 because they think the Jets will take Nassib if they don't

Trades up in 2nd ( short hop to leapfrog Broncs for falling DE ? )

This I see as the most likely scenerio. To much talent in the 2nd and 3rd round to not try to get the player you want. I see 2 CB's that the Pats could highly tout in the early 2nd (Taylor, Wren-Wilson) and a couple DL (Jenkins, Hankins, J Williams, Hunt) and I don't see the Pats sitting back at #59 and hoping one falls

Trades sideways in 3rd ( ??? )

Possible, but BB is a KMart shopper and this years 3rd offers 2nd round talent and players failing because of injures or drug issues (seems like no matter the year he always rolls the dice on a falling player with red flags)

Trades a vet for a draft pick

(Maybe Ballard back to NYG 's for a 4th ? How about Mallete to the Jets for their future 2 ? ...only half-kidding )

Can't see a Ballard trade. The Pats are very high on the kid and with Hern and Gronk being injury question marks a couple starting caliber TE is hard to find. Besides if Ballard works out you can move Hern to WR giving even more of BB's two favorite words "value" and "flexibility"

Uses the phrase "good value" 17 times in post draft presser .

HAVE A GREAT DRAFT WEEKEND ALL !

IBBWT

Great thoughts Capt as usual. I have made some comments they are in some color of blue

Thanks to everyone who takes the time and spends the effort researching all these players, love this thread. It is the one thread where very rarely do you see name calling and non-patriot related materials. All football all the time. Looking forward to tomorrow night and the rest of the draft weekend. Have absolutely no idea what the pats will do but am sure it will generate some interesting debates. ENJOY THE WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Here's an interesting thought. We all pegged Hunt to be a 43 DE, which is natural given his 275lb weight. However, he has a ton of strength (38 reps with his long arms) and has the frame (6'8") to add 15 lbs without losing a ton of speed. 10-15lbs is a reasonable gain from rook OTA's to Sept given current NFL standards would it be possible that they pick Hunt with #29 and have him bump up to 290 and use him as a heavy 43 DE during running plays and a smaller quick DT during passing downs? Given his ST ability too he'd be a 4 down player that adds strength to both the run and pass defense. The more I think about it the more it makes sense to me. He'd be the player they were hoping Cunningham would become. Then on passing downs you move Hightower to DE and A. Wilson/Nink as the 3rd coverage LB and you have a 11 man squad of:

Listening to Gresh and Zo, they are having their annual draft party at the CBS scene in Foxboro. Prob never happen but it would be interesting if we could somehow get all the draftniks together one year at the CBS scene and just have a fun time with the draft. I think I'd prefer day 2 as there is much more action and more intrigue but that would be a good time